Twice as nice: 2nd set of Wichita twins wins City League high school wrestling titles

Fraternal twins who are each skilled at wrestling may sound unique, until you meet the Means family.

Two years ago, Cadence and Caleb Means both won City League titles and qualified for the Kansas high school wrestling state tournament in their senior year at Bishop Carroll.

But the Means family wasn’t done.

This past weekend, Alexis and Elijah Means, another set of fraternal twins three years younger, replicated the feat of their older siblings by both winning gold medals for Carroll at the City League wrestling tournament hosted by North.

It was the second straight league title for Elijah, while Alexis earned Most Outstanding Wrestler honors for the girls’ tournament.

“It definitely did become a goal to (both win) after watching them do it,” said Elijah Means, who won the 157-pound boys division. “We want to replicate what they did and try to do even better. You know, be the better set of twins.”

Since the two sets of twins were so close in age, they grew up competitive on the wrestling mat with one another. While the boys, Caleb and Elijah, treated it as more of a friendly rivalry, the girls, Cadence and Alexis, were cutthroat when it came to competition.

While Alexis gleefully enjoys bragging rights with her state medal earned last year, their competitiveness with one another is rooted in love and admiration. After all, it was Cadence who convinced their father to allow the girls to wrestle at a young age and Cadence who pushed Alexis to become a better wrestler in their year together in high school.

“Cadence told me, ‘You said I could be anything I wanted to be and I want to be a wrestler,’” said Carl Means, their father. “So Cadence started and then Lexi followed and now Lexi lives and breathes wrestling. Everything she does revolves around wrestling.”

Like most teens her age, Alexis spends a lot of time online. Unlike her peers, that time is almost always spent on finding a way to get better.

She spends hours watching wrestling on FloWrestling and YouTube.

“I’ll watch everything from girls around town to Olympians,” said Alexis, who is 29-2 this season and ranked No. 2 in the 135-pound division in Class 6-5A. “Sometimes my dad will send me reels and I just love watching wrestling and seeing moves that people do.

“A lot of people say I’m obsessed, and I am obsessed. But it’s just my thing.”

The family’s bond forged through wrestling has continued past the older set of twins’ graduation from Carroll.

Cadence and Caleb were both in attendance this past weekend to cheer on their younger siblings. In fact, Caleb has continued to mentor Elijah, who is 33-5 this season and ranked No. 4 in Class 5A at 157 pounds.

“I always tried to watch my brother and learn from him and then follow his work ethic,” Elijah said. “Even now, he’s always trying to help me in situations where I struggle a little bit and watching my film to try to help me get better.”

What Carroll wrestling coach Kyle Cline has discovered in recent years is the more Means in the team’s wrestling room, the better it is for the team.

“It’s really neat to see that kind of family come through our program and make an impact and statement for the Carroll community,” Cline said. “All four of them are the kind of kids who help elevate your room and make the other kids around them better. As talented as they are, they came from humble beginnings and everything they’ve accomplished so far, they’ve worked extremely hard for.”

What both sets of twins agree on is they want to see the younger siblings, Alexis and Eljiah, continue to elevate the program higher.

For Alexis, that means trying to become the first individual state champion in the brief history of girls wrestling at Carroll.

For Elijah, that means teaming up with other talented wrestlers like Brady Duling, Caden Denton, Owen Newell and Conner Landers to try to notch the boys’ first top-five finish at state since 2014.

While the family hopes more special moments are on the way later this month, another dual-championship performance at the City League tournament — with their victories coming within minutes of one another — remains a highlight.

“It couldn’t have been any more special,” Carl Means said. “The older set of twins were there to watch and they’re both super proud of their little brother and sister. Watching them both win right after the other, that was definitely a proud parent moment.”